suits



Jan. 21, 1964 s. sun's ETAL 3,113,239

IRONING MACHINE Filed March 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. KINGSLEY S. SUITS ALBERT LI EVERS ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 21, 1964 s. SUITSETAL 3,113,239

IRONING MACHINE Filed March 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

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IGlIJKUIHlII HIIIIUIIIIJI JII FG. 3 INVENTORS.

KINGSLEY S. SUITS ALBERT L. EVERS BY W z mgwz ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofi ice 3,ll3,23 Patented Jan. 21, 19-64 3,118,239 HQQNENG MIAQHINE Kingsley S. Suits, Kirkwood, and Albert 1.. Ever-s, St. Louis, Mo., assignors to Hollis E. Suits Family Laundry, St. Louis, Mo, a corporation of Missouri Filed Mar. 25, 196%, Ser. No. 17,536 4 Claims. (Ci. 38-55) This invention relates to improvements in a rotary machine of the type having a plurality of rotary elements driven by a single, flexible member, such as a chain and sprocket wheel drive arrangement. The invention has particular utility with a flat material pressing machine, such as a laundry ironing machine, and involves a means for reducing the load of the drive chain upon the rotary elements of such a pressing machine, as well as an i. proved means for measuring the magnitude of pressure of the rotary elements against their mating counterparts.

The machine with which the invention is to be described as an example of an embodiment that is preferred, is a laundry flatwork ironer of the chest type. The ironer is the type that may be used to iron flat work, such as sheets and the like. The machine includes a plurality of rotary drums that are covered with knitted cotton, felt, asbestos, or other resilient padding, the number of drums being variable with individual machines. Each of the drums is rotatable against a stationary, concave, heated surface, and there is pressure between the drums and the surfaces. The flat work is passed between the first drum and its mating surface and there ironed, and is then carried on to the second drum, and then to the third drum, etc.

Each of the drums has a sprocket wheel mounted to one end of the drum carrying shaft. The plane of rotation of the sprocket Wheels is substantially the same for all of them, and the sprocket wheels are arranged in a line, as are the drums.

In prior art machines of this type, various drive means have been employed to cause the rotation of the ironing drums. One such drive means is a gear train arrangement, but one of the big disadvantages to the gear train arrangement is its inflexibility of use. An ironing machine should be capable of handling a wide range of material thicknesses. When a gear drive is employed for one of the machines, the thickness range is limited by the distance that a pair of gears can be separated and still perform their intended function. Any time a pair of meshed gears are separated at all, the magnitude of wear is greatly increased. Another factor is the high cost of manufacture and assembly of gear drives.

One drive means that has been developed to eliminate the cost incurred in the gear train drive is the chain drive. The least expensive chain drive arrangement is the type that involves only a single chain for all the rotary drums. In addition to the reduced expense, the use of a single chain assures that the rotation of all drums will be at the same speed.

One of the important problems that has arisen in the use of a single chain drive means for the rotary drums is the terrific load that the chain applies to the leading drum of the series. In other words, all of the drums are in contact with their corresponding ironing surfaces. Consequently, the resistance to rotation is great for each drum, and this is compounded in the driving force of the chain about the leading drum.

The leading drum is the drum having a sprocket wheel that the chain passes around before it returns to the driving motor. Because of these hi h loads applied by the chain to the leading drum, there has been great difficulty in maintaining the precision operation of the ironing machines. For a full understanding of this difiiculty, some of the features of the ironer must be explained.

The ironer includes a plurality of drums as aforesaid. Each of the drums rotates against a stationary concave steam chest, and the material to be ironed passes between he drum and its corresponding chest. Each drum has a surface covered with a resilient padding. It is the padding that presses against the fabric that is being ironed and this resilient padding becomes more and more compressed with continued use. i

It is important that the material being ironed pass from one drum to the next drum without becoming crimped. A smooth ironing performance is assured because each drum has a slightly greater diameter than the next preceding drum, these diameter differences being controlled by the thickness of the padding about each drum.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the diameters of the drums are quite important to the successful opera tion of the machine. It should be equally apparent that, should any of the drums be subjected to uneven pressure so that the padding becomes non-uniformly compressed, the diameter of such drums will become non-uniform.

Because of the great load upon the leading drum of the series of this type of fabric ironing machine, the sprocket chain has caused an uneven wear or compression of the padding about that drum. In other words, the sprocket chain engages a sprocket wheel at one end of the leading drum shaft, and tends to pull that shaft toward the corresponding pressure surface, but only at the sprocketed end of the shaft.

The invention eliminates the high load applied to the leading drum by providing an idler wheel ahead of that drum. It is the idler wheel, therefore, that absorbs the high loads resulting from the rotation of the several drums.

As already mentioned, the drums are in general align ment throughout the length of the machine. As such, the centers of the sprocket wheels are in a straight line. Obviously, a substantially straight line is necessary since a single chain is used to drive all of them. Otherwise, the chain could be lifted partially or completely free from engagement with one or more of the sprocket wheels.

An important aspect of the idler wheel that absorbs the chain load is that its upper extremity automatically remains in line with the imaginary lme through the upper extremity of the sprocket wheels. Furthermore, the vertical position of the idler wheel is controlled by the vertical position of the sprocket wheels. Thus, as the sprocket wheels are purposely raised or lowered to decrease or increase their pressure upon the ironing surface or are raised or lowered in response to the thickness of material being pressed, the idler wheel that is controlled by the vertical movement will be correspondingly raised or lowered.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a drive means for a machine having a plurality of rotary elements in which the drive means is very economical but yet does not apply unreasonably heavy loads upon any of the rotary elements. More specifically, this object is to provide such a machine with a single flexible member for driving the rotary elements, together with an idler gear or pulley connected into the drive train for absorbing the heavy resistive loads of the rotary elements.

The magnitude of resistance of the drums depends to a great extent upon the pressure exerted by the force of the drums against ironing surfaces. In ironing machines or" the type into which the invention may be connected, the pressure of the drums may be varied. In fact, it is almost essential that provision be made for varying this pressure inasmuch as the layer of padding about the drums tends to become compressed with use. Therefore, over a period of time, it is necessary to decrease the distance between the axes of rotation of each drum and the ironing surface.

It has already been mentioned that the diameter of the drums should be progressively greater, by a small amount, from the leading drum to the last drum. The ironing machine has means for adjusting the distance between each drum axis and the ironing surface and this adjusting means is used to initially establish the progressively increasing diameters of the drums. When newly padded drums are installed in the machine, the axis of the leading drum is adjusted closest to the ironing surface. The distances of the axes of the rest of the drums from the ironing surfaces are progressively greater for the successive drums following the leading -rum. When the drums are first set into operation, the leading drum, which is closest to the ironing surface will quickly compensate for the resulting increased pressure by compression of the padding, so that the thickness of that padding is reduced. The thickness of the padding on the rest of the drums will also be reduced, but to progressiv ly lesser extents. In this way, the calibration of drum diameters is established for the machine.

Once the diameters of the drums are established, relative to one another, the wear on the padding should be uniform. it is uniform when the load absorbing idler wheel of the present invention is used. Even so, the continued rotation of the drums under pressure causes their diameters to decrease, and separate means for decreasing the distance between all drum axes and the ironing surface is provided to compensate for the reduced pressure between the drums and the ironing surface when the diameter of those drums has become reduced.

The means for moving all the drums together is used to determine the pressure between the drums and the ironing surface. Heretofore, no way has been devised for precisely determining what pressure does exist. One of the important features of this invention is that the magnitude of pressure can be observed through a sensing element connected to an indicating means. Therefore, the drums can always rotate under optimum pressure conditions for the best ironing effect. The provision of such a pressure sensing means and a means for indicating the pressure sensed is another important object of the invention.

There are other objects and advantages that will be apparent from the following.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a partial view of the machine showing the forward portion of the machine in side elevation;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of that portion of the machine shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation taken from the right side of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

Referring to the drawings, the machine in general is designated by the numeral it). The basic ironing machine is not a part of this invention except so far as its being a part of the overall combination. in other words, the ironing machine with the several drums is a commercially available machine, but the invention described herein incorporates improvements to that machine.

The machine 10 is held together by a frame 11 formed of cast metal. The frame 11 has a front 12, a top 13 and feet 14. Obviously, the entire frame 11 is not illustrated. There are cut-away portions 17, 18 and 18a in the frame 11 which are not important to an under standing of the present invention.

At the forward end 12 of the frame 11 are secured mounting plate means 19 in a well-known manner. A feeding mechanism 2t is attached by bolts 21 to the mounting plate means 19. The feeding mechanism 24} is shown rather diagrammatically for identification purposes, and serves the purpose of delivering flat material, such as linen and the like, to the leading drum of the ironing machine 10. The feeding mechanism 20 is conventional and forms no part of the present invention. The chain drive mechanism for the feeder 24 is designated by the single numeral 22.

Attached to the frame 11 by a plurality of bosses 25 is a pressure or ironing surface 26. The ironing surface 26 comprises a plurality of concave, heated chambers or chests 27, each of which forms a partial cylinder against which the drums or rollers rotate. The edges of adjacent chests 2'7 are smoothly joined, as at 28. It will be understood, of course, that bosses similar to the bosses 25 attach the pressure surface 26 to the opposite side of the frame.

A vertical pin 3% is rigidly fastened to the frame 11. There are additional ones of the pins 30 throughout the length of the machine that are not shown.

Mounted upon the pins 39, so as to be vertically slidable thereon, and yet held by the pins 30 from horizontal movement, is a heavy gauge beam 51. There is a similar beam opposite the beam 31, also vertically slidable upon pins like the pins 38. Each of the beams 31 has a plurality of rectangular recesses 32, 33 and 34 extending from the top 35 part of the way to the bottom 36 of the beam 31. In other words, the bottom surfaces 37, 38 and 35 of the recesses 32, 33 and 34, respectively, are spaced from the lower surface 36 of the beam 31.

Means are included for raising and lowering the beams 31. Such means include power means (not shown) and manual means for emergency operation in the event of failure of the power means.

The manual means includes a large hand wheel 45 mounted to the plate means 19 which are attached to the frame 11. The wheel 45 is mounted by a nut 36 on a shaft which is rotatable with the wheel 45 and which carries a bevel gear 47, also rotatable with the wheel 45.

Mounted at right angles to the shaft of the wheel 45 by suitable clamps Si), is a long shaft 51 that extends substantially the entire length of the machine it). Mounted to the forward end 52 of the shaft 51 and in mesh with the bevel gear 47, is another bevel gear 53. When the hand wheel 45 is rotated, rotating the bevel gear 47, the bevel gear 4'7 causes the gear 53, and therefore the shaft 51, to rotate.

The power operating means is connected to the shaft 51 in a well known manner for normally operating that shaft upon actuation of a suitable clutch mechanism.

There are bearings 54 to facilitate the rotation of the shaft 51, and mounted to the shaft 51 between pairs of bearings 54, are worm gears 55 and 56. The worm gears 55 and 56 rotate with the shaft 51.

A plate 6 3 secures a gear 61 by bolts 62 to a shaft 63. The shaft 63 is mounted for rotation on the frame 11 so that the gear 61 is in mesh with the worm gear 55. A short eccentric shaft 65 is mounted to rotate with the gear 61. V

A casting 66 is mounted on the short shaft 65 for rotation thereabout. The casting 66 has fastened to it a rod 67. At the opposite end of the rod 67 is a fixture 68 that is mounted for rotation about a pin 69. The pin 69 is fixed to the beam 31.

A similar gear 7t? carries an eccentric shaft '71 about which rotates a casting 72. A rod '73 is connected to the casting 72 and has a fixture 74 rotatable about another pin '75 that is connected to the beam 31. More gears 61 and 7%? may be included throughout the length of the machine to accomplish the purpose about to be described.

Thus, when the power means is engaged or the hand wheel 45 is rotated, the shaft 51 in the worm gears 55 and 55 will rotate. Rotation of the worm gears 55 and 56 causes rotation of the gears 61 and 7% with corresponding revolution of the eccentric shafts 65 and 71. In that manner, the centers of the shafts 65 and 71 will together be raised and lowered. As the shafts 65 and 71 are raised or lowered, they raise or lower the rods 67 and 73. Because the rods 6'7 and 73 are connected to pins 69 and 75, they will cause the beam 31 to be raised and lowered.

Similar shafts, worm gears, gears, rods, and pins cause a similar beam 31 opposite the one illustrated, to be raised and lowered upon actuation of the power means or rotation of the hand wheel 45. The pins 3!) guide the beams in their vertical movement.

A plurality of drums 8t) and $1 (there may be more, not shown) are mounted for rotation against the pressure surface 26, each within its own partial, concave surface 27 and 28, respectively. The drums 80 and 81 have a solid base, but are covered with a thickness of cottons or suitable resilient padding. It is the padding that contacts the pressure surface 25 and the material to be ironed when the drums 3d and 131 are rotated.

Each of the drums 8t and $1 is mounted fixedly on a shaft 82, and each end of each shaft 82 rotates within a bearing block 83. Each bearing block 33 has a pair of ears or flanges 84 on each side of the beam 31 and extending beyond the confines of the rectangular recesses 32, 33 and 34. Thus, the drums 8t? and 81 are confined in their axial movement by the confinement of the bearing blocks 83 within the rectangular recesses 32, 33 and 34.

The only thing retaining the drums 8d and 81 is the plurality of bearing blocks 33. Thus, the drums are slidable vertically with their bearings within the recesses 32, 33 and 34. As will become clear, there are means provided to restrain this vertical movement of the drums 89 and 81.

Fastened to the end of the shaft 82 by a suitable bolt 9% is a very large sprocket wheel 91. There is a sprocket wheel 91 for each of the shafts 82, and when the sprocket wheels 91 are rotated they cause the shafts 82, and therefore the drums 3t) and 81, to rotate.

There is a single sprocket chain 92 that engages the teeth or" all the sprocket wheels 91. A motor drive means (not shown) drives the sprocket chain 92, which in turn causes the wheels 21 to rotate.

A plate 94 is fastened by bolts 95 to each bearing block 83. The plate 94 is also bolted to another plate 96 by bolts 97. At the top of the plate 96 is secured a sprocket wheel restraining block 98 by means of bolts 99 that pass through a pair of spacers 18d and another block 161 into properly tapped holes 1112 in the plate 96. The restraining blocks 98 are spaced from the sprocket Wheels 91 to a suitable distance, sufiicient to hold the sprocket chain 92 in driving engagement with the sprocket wheels 91.

An irregularly shaped casting 105 that has a central recess 2% is secured above each rectangular recess 32, 33 and 34 in the beam 31. The casting 105 has flange means 1% that permit bolts 167 to hold the casting to the beam 31. Threaded through the top 108 of the casting 195 is a bolt 1&9 having a flat spring engaging washer 1 3 attached to its end. Seated against the washer 119 at one end and upon and about a spring seat 111, which is a part of each bearing block 33, is a compression spring 112. As each bolt 1119 is turned further into the recess 1% of the casting 195, that bolt tends to increase the compression force of the spring 112. The increased force of the spring 112 against the bearing seat 111, and therefore the top of the bearing block 83, biases such bearing block downwardly within its recess in the beam 31. After the beam 31 has been lowered, by the power source or by turning the hand Wheel 45, to a position at which the lower surfaces 37, 33 and 39 are below the bottom of the bearing blocks, the compressive force of the springs 112 is opposed by the fact that the drums 8i) and 81 are pressed against their respective concave pressure surfaces 27. Thus, each of the bolts 1139 can be used to individually adjust the pressure of the several drums 8i and 81. It should be here pointed out that there are similar adjustment means, including the castings 135 and the bolts 109 l together with the compression spring means, for adjusting the pressure against the bearing blocks opposite those illustrated in FIGURE. 1.

It is the bolts 1119 that are turned individually to achieve a progressive increase in the diameters of the drums St and 81 from the forward end of the machine toward the rearward end. In other words, when the drums have been newly padded, the bolts 1 .19 above each bearing 83 of the forwardmost drum are turned downward more than the bolts 109 above the bearing blocks 83 of the next drum 81. Similarly successive compression springs 112 are compressed to a lesser extent toward the rearward end of the machine so that the pressure varies gradually from drum to drum toward the rear end of the machine. Then, when the machine is first operated, the greater pressure on the forward drum 30 will cause the padding about the drum to become more compressed than the padding about the next drum 81, etc. After a very short period of operation, the diameters of the drums will automatically have become slightly increased in magnitude from the forward to the rearward end of the machine. The drums will then be ready for operation so that material introduced for ironing by the first drum will be picked up by the second drum 31 without crimping that material.

There are a pair of plates 12% and 121 attached by bolts 122 to the frame 11 in spaced relationship, the spacing being accomplished by spacers 123 surrounding the bolts 122 between the plates 129 and 121. Portions of the plate 121 are partly cut away to accommodate sprocket wheels and chains 22 that are a part of the feeding mechanism 26. Round holes 124 are cut through the plates 12%) and 121. A pair of circular bearings 125 and 126 having retaining flanges 127 are mounted in the holes 124. A polished steel shaft 128 is rigidly fixed to the bearings 125 and 126 by studs 129.

An idler sprocket wheel 13!) is fixed to a bronze sleeve 131, and the bronze sleeve 131 is rotatable about the polished steel shaft 128. The chain 22 passes around the idler wheel 13% and past an idler 132 mounted to the frame to space the chain from the leading sprocket wheel 91.

It should be noted from the drawings that the shaft 128 is eccentrically mounted withrespect to the bearings 125 and 126. Therefore, upon any rotation of the bearings 125 and 126, there will be movement of the shaft 128 relative to the ironing machine 10.

Fixed by bolts 133 to the bearing 125 is a plate 134 having a slot 135 at its free end 136. There is a bracket 137 attached by bolts 138 to the forward end of the beam 31, and the bracket 137 has a pin 1.39 projecting from it that is slidable within the slot 135 on the plate 134. Thus, after the beam 31 is raised and lowered, carrying with it the sprocket wheels 91, the pin 139 will also be raised and lowered, pivoting by way of the plate 134 the bearings 125 and 126. When the bearings 125 and 126 are pivoted, the eccentric mounting of the idler wheel 131) will cause it to be raised and lowered with the sprocket Wheels 1. Therefore, the chain in passing over the wheels 91, and idler 1319 under operating conditions, will define a straight line.

The springs 112 are so designed that they will give when relatively thick material is passed through the ironer. That is, the drums 8t} and 81 must be capable of handling material of various thicknesses, and must, therefore, be capable of responding in vertical movement to such variations in thickness. This action may be thought of as a limited floating action, the degree of which is determined by the position and force of the springs 112. Regardless of the vertical movement of the drums 89 and 81, however, the idler will always remain aligned with the sprocket wheels 91 because of the eccentric mounting of the idler wheel.

The effect of the bolts 1&9 upon the pressure of the drums against bearing surface 26 has been described. It

is highly desirable that a single preliminary setting of these bolts 199 be all that is necessary to establish the relative diameters of the drums S and 81. However, in prior art ironing machines of the type having a single sprocket chain 92 for rotating all the drums 80 and 81, in which the idler wheel 130 is not employed, the terrific load of the chain 92 upon the sprocket wheel 91 of the leading drum 8% has increased the pressure on the one side of that drum that carries the sprocket wheel 91. This increased pressure has caused compression of the padding surrounding the drum, thereby reducing the diameter of the drum on one side only. The result has caused the leading drum 80 to assume a sort of frusto-conical shape that caused the ironing process to be defective. An immediately obvious result of this prior art drive mechanism is that the material, when passed between the first drum 80 and its ironing surface 26, was discharged askew of the axis of that drum when picked up by the second drum 81. If the material was not to 1-, it was crimped and creased when such crimping and creasing was not desired.

There has been no satisfactory remedy for this improper operation of the prior art machines. The only system for partially compensating for the high wear upon the sprocket seat of the leading drum 80 has been to turn down the bolt 109 on the opposite bearing of that drum. This turning down would tend to equalize the pressure on the drum 8t) and thereby make the diameter of that drum more uniform. However, once the leading drum 80 had been thus reduced in diameter, it was necessary to similarly reduce the diameter of the succeeding drums 81, etc. Thus, the wear upon the padding layer about the drums was prematurely aggravated. In addition, the solution has been far from complete in that the operation of the machine, after the correction was made, again caused the leading drum 80 to become worn at the sprocket end, because the load on the sprocket Wheel 91 on the leading drum 80 continued as the machine was operated.

With the present invention which employs the idler sprocket wheel 130, the chain 92 passes over the idler wheel 139. Therefore, because the driving pull of the sprocket chain is transmitted directly to the idler wheel 130, the idler wheel 130 absorbs the entire accumulated resistance of all the drums. In other words, the heretofore heavy load upon the leading drum 8!} is absorbed by the sprocket wheel 130.

Another difficulty involved in the prior art machines that do not have the idler wheel 130, is the fact that the heavy load upon the bearing block 83 of the sprocket wheel 91 that rotates the leading drum 80, has often caused that hearing block 83 to pull away from the beam 31. It can be seen from the drawings that the flanges 84 do not offer a great deal of resistance to these heavy loads encountered in the prior art machines. On the other hand, the plates 120 and 121 are of much heavier gauge steel than the flanges 84. So, too, are the flanges 127 of the bearings 125 and 126 of heavier gauge steel than the flanges 84. This construction of the idler wheel assembly has resulted in no pulling away of the idler wheel 139 and has even raised the possibility of reducing the gauge of steel required in the bearing blocks 83. Also, the load upon the idler wheel 130 is transverse to the shaft 128 so that moment forces are not present as in prior art machines that applied these heavy loads to the leading drum sprocket wheel 91.

The manner in which the pressure of all of the drums is increased by a single operation has already been explained, this increase in pressure being accomplished by the rotation of the shaft 51. Periodically, it is necessary to adjust the position of the drums 80 and 81 because the padding about the drums becomes more compressed. This increased compression with increased operation of the machine reduces the diameter of the drums, thereby re ducing the pressure of the drums against the pressure surface 26.

The prior art machines have gauged the pressure of the drums against the pressure surface 26 only by the rought indication that time of use can give. In other words, users of the prior art machines had determined that after a certain period, such as two days, the drums should be lowered an additional predetermined extent, but this predetermined extent is largely a guess or estimate.

The present invention provides a means for accurately measuring the real pressure of the drums against the ironing surface 26, regardless of the time of use. The importance of this aspect of the invention should be thoroughly understood when it is realized that there are more factors than merely time of use that affect the extent of compression of the padding. Such factors include the intermittent nature of operation and the material being ironed, as well as heat, moisture, friction and type of padding.

For the pressure indicating means, there is a right angle bracket connected by the bolt 107 above the rearward flange 106 of the casting 105, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Pivotally mounted to the flange 145 by a bolt 146 is an indicating arm 147 that has a pointer 148 at its furthermost end.

There is hole 150 through the side of the casting 105 nearest the drum 8i Vertically reciprocable within the hole 15% is a pin 151. The pin 151 rests upon the bearing block 83 connected to the leading drum 8% and extends through the top of the casting 135. The indicating arm 147 rests upon the top of the pin 151.

Rigidly attached by a bolt 154 to the bracket 137 is a scale 155. The scale 155 extends forwardly just short of the pointer 143. There are appropriate indicator marks 156 on the scale 155 that indicate the pressure of the drums against the ironing surface 26, the scale 155 also indicating the point at which the drums are completely off the surface 26.

The way that the pressure sensing and indicating means operates is as follows: the pressure of the drums is increased by lowering the beam 31. Thus, as the beam 31 is lowered, it lowers the castings 105 that are attached to the beam 31. As the castings 1115 are lowered, the pressure of the compression springs 112 increases above the bearing blocks 83, thus biasing the bearing blocks 83 in a downward direction. Therefore, once the beam 31 has been lowered so that the lower surfaces 37, 38 and 39 of the recesses 32, 33 and 34 are no longer supporting the bearing blocks 83, the pressure of the drums 80 and 81 will be determined by the pressure of the springs 112 upon the bearing blocks 83.

As the springs 112 become more compressed because of the resistive pressure of the drums 86 and 31 against the pressure surface 86, the relative distance between the bearing blocks 83 and the top 35 of the beam 31 will be decreased. Therefore, the distance between the bearing blocks 83 and the top of the castings that are attached to the beam 31 will be decreased. After this action occurs, the constant length pin 151 that always rests upon the top of the bearing block =33 will project further above the top of the casting 1115. As the pin 151 projects through the casting 105, it raises the indicator arm 147 about its pivot 146 and with it the pointer 14-3. In this manner the precise magnitude of the pressure between the drums and the ironing surface is indicated by the scale 155.

What is claimed is:

1. An ironer comprising a frame, a plurality of rotatable drums each fixed to a shaft supported by the frame, the shafts being generally parallel to one another and being generally horizontally aligned, each drum having a cylindrical surface defined by resilient compressible material, means supported by the frame and defining pressure surfaces in pressure contact with the resilient surfaces of the drums, means for rotating the drums, the drums and pressure surfaces being adapted to receive cloth material between them to iron the material when the drums are rotated, the pressure between the drums and pressure surfaces causing resistance to rotation of the drums, at

sprocket wheel for each drum, each sprocket wheel being fixed to the end of a shaft so that the planes of rotation of the sprocket Wheels are generally aligned, whereby r0- tation of the sprocket Wheels causes the shafts and drums to rotate, an idler sprocket Wheel rotatably supported by the frame, a continuous sprocket chain in driving engagement with each of the sprocket Wheels including the idler sprocket Wheel, the sprocket chain being adapted to be drawn past the sprocket Wheels and idler sprocket Wheel to rotate the sprocket Wheets and idler sprocket Wheel, the position of the idler sprocket Wheel being such that the driving force of the chain is transmitted directly to the idler sprocket Wheel and thence to the remaining sprocket wheels.

2. The ironer of claim 1 wherein the shafts are journalled in bearing blocks and the bearing blocks are vertieally movable relative to the pressure surfaces, and a pinrality of compression springs seated between the frame and the bearing blocks for biasing the shafts toward the pressure surfaces.

3. The ironer of claim 2 including means for adjusting the biasing force of the compression springs to regulate the magnitude of pressure between the drums and the pressure surfaces, and means controlled by the adjusting means to indicate the magnitude of said pressure.

4. The ironer of claim 1 wherein the idler wheel mounted upon a shaft and the shaft is supported by the frame on opposite sides of the idler Wheel.

References Qitetl in the file or" this patent UNITED STATES FATENTS 1,016,992 Hess Feb. 13, 1912 1,614,816 York Ian. 18, 1927 1,635,861 Peiler luly 12, 1927 1,694,970 Curtiss Dec. 11, 1928 2,301,791 Pitre Nov. 10, 1942 2,314,114 White Mar. 16, 1943 2,795,874 \Vidigen lune 13, 1957 2,803,896 Schiffer Aug. 27, 1957 2,822,077 Lorig Feb. 4, 1958 

1. AN IRONER COMPRISING A FRAME, A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLE DRUMS EACH FIXED TO A SHAFT SUPPORTED BY THE FRAME, THE SHAFTS BEING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER AND BEING GENERALLY HORIZONTALLY ALIGNED, EACH DRUM HAVING A CYLINDRICAL SURFACE DEFINED BY RESILIENT COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL, MEANS SUPPORTED BY THE FRAME AND DEFINING PRESSURE SURFACES IN PRESSURE CONTACT WITH THE RESILIENT SURFACES OF THE DRUMS, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE DRUMS, THE DRUMS AND PRESSURE SURFACES BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE CLOTH MATERIAL BETWEEN THEM TO IRON THE MATERIAL WHEN THE DRUMS ARE ROTATED, THE PRESSURE BETWEEN THE DRUMS AND PRESSURE SURFACES CAUSING RESISTANCE TO ROTATION OF THE DRUMS, A SPROCKET WHEEL FOR EACH DRUM, EACH SPROCKET WHEEL BEING FIXED TO THE END OF A SHAFT SO THAT THE PLANES OF ROTATION OF THE SPROCKET WHEELS ARE GENERALLY ALIGNED, WHEREBY ROTATION OF THE SPROCKET WHEELS CAUSES THE SHAFTS AND DRUMS TO ROTATE, AN IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL ROTATABLY SUPPORTED BY THE FRAME, A CONTINUOUS SPROCKET CHAIN IN DRIVING ENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OF THE SPROCKET WHEELS INCLUDING THE IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL, THE SPROCKET CHAIN BEING ADAPTED TO BE DRAWN PAST THE SPROCKET WHEELS AND IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL TO ROTATE THE SPROCKET WHEELS AND IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL, THE POSITION OF THE IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL BEING SUCH THAT THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE CHAIN IS TRANSMITTED DIRECTLY TO THE IDLER SPROCKET WHEEL AND THENCE TO THE REMAINING SPROCKET WHEELS. 